Temple Street Ambassador and rugby legend Brian O’Driscoll officially opened the newly-constructed Neurology & Renal Outpatients’ Unit in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital today. The launch marks the completion of Temple Street Foundation’s most ambitious fundraising project in its history – with a total of €5.5million raised to build, fit-out and equip the new unit, which opens to patients this week.

The two-floor unit will cater to over 6,500 renal and neurology patients who attend Temple Street for treatment each year and features additional clinical facilities with spacious waiting rooms and patient play areas. Each floor is 400 square metres in size and will accommodate multi-disciplinary teams for both specialities. The new unit replaces existing outdated departments, which have limited space and are no longer fit for purpose.

Speaking about the construction of the new outpatients’ unit at the official opening, Denise Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Temple Street Foundation said, “Raising the funds for this new facility was the most ambitious challenge that we have ever set ourselves in Temple Street Foundation, but we were overwhelmed with the kindness and support we received from people all over Ireland who care deeply about the welfare of our children and who wanted to help bring positive change to our hospital.

These supporters, along with Temple Street’s medical teams and staff, make up an extraordinary circle of care that surrounds each patient who comes here and ensures that they and their families receive world-class care and access to the best possible facilities. Thanks to their commitment to Temple Street, our neurology and renal patients will have access to these wonderful facilities, which will simply transform their hospital experience.”

She added, “For those of us who haven’t experienced it first hand, it’s hard to comprehend the challenges faced by the children and families who attend these units. It is our belief that every sick child and their family deserves our complete emotional, physical and psychological support. And this new unit will deliver that much-needed holistic and family-focused care.”

Also speaking at the official opening, Temple Street Ambassador Brian O’Driscoll said, “I’ve been a Temple Street Ambassador for over ten years now, and in that time, I have seen tremendous change across the hospital thanks to people’s generosity. Temple Street isn’t just a building. It is a community that is like no other – made up of a close team of caring medical staff and loving families who all work with one goal in mind – to make sick children better.

I’m honoured to be a part of that community and am thrilled to have been invited today to celebrate this latest development for Temple Street – the opening of this beautiful unit. It was really rewarding to take a tour of the new unit this morning – it’s a breath of fresh air for families and I’d like to thank each and everyone who helped to make it a reality.”

Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. The Neurology Department at the Temple Street Children’s University Hospital is a referral centre for children with neurological problems from all over the country with neurological disorders including epilepsy, stroke and brain tumours. Temple Street’s neurology team is to provide a high standard of nursing and medical care in assessing investigating, diagnosing and treating children with neurological disorders.

The New Neurology Unit includes:

400 square metre footprint

A larger waiting room with play area

Dedicated treatment rooms

A parents’ room

Three new Neurophysiological Sleep Testing Rooms with adjoining monitoring. (Located away from the main patient waiting/treatment areas and with better acoustics, these will enable more efficient tests to be conducted)

Two wheelchair accessible toilets

Four consultants’ rooms

A nurses’ room

A technician’s office

EEG rooms

Renal Department

The national renal transplant unit is based at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital and conducts kidney transplants on children from all over the country under 16 years of age. Temple Street is also the national paediatric haemodialysis centre where children attend for dialysis three times a week from all over the country for periods from six months to five years whilst waiting for a kidney. Each time they attend the hospital they spend three hours on a machine losing precious days of family, home and school life.

The New Renal Unit includes:

400 square metre footprint

A new larger waiting room with play area

A state of the art treatment room for transplant patients

Five Hemodialysis stations

A specialised Urodynamics facility

Provision for psychologists and dieticians to be housed on this single floor, providing a completely holistic treatment for patients

Temple Street Foundation

Every sick child in Temple Street is surrounded by an extraordinary and unbreakable circle of care. The dedication of our world class medical staff, the devotion of our families and the constant generosity of our supporters form an unbreakable chain of support for every child. Temple Street Foundation’s aim is to help sick children by making their stay in hospital less distressing for them and their families, by funding the purchase of medical equipment, developing new services, funding research and developing new treatment facilities.